Journaling Your Way to Success

Journaling is a great way to keep your mind on success. I employ journal writing on a daily basis for ongoing improvement. The good news is you don't need to be a great writer and sometimes it as simple as logging results or outcomes to give yourself a gauge on your ongoing progress. Let's look at some common goals and some logging or journaling ideas you can employ on your journey to success.

Habit Journal
Habit journals are used to once per week to establish several things. I personally use this journal to write down habits I did not accomplish in full that previous week, meaning, I did not meet the minimum requirement of times accomplished (like weighing myself, reading a certain amount of chapters in a book, writing in a specific journal a number of times, etc.). I then look at my outstanding goals, think about what tasks I can work on, and determine what my focus will be for the week, adding or removing habits if necessary.

Bible Reading Journal
When I fill out my Bible Journal, I simply write a short note or two for each chapter I read. This helps me take each chapter's message to heart. The first time I read the Bible, I mainly focused on the names of the characters, who they are related to, and their lineage.

​Losing Weight, Calorie, or exercise Journals
These journals can be used to reflect on your activity and foods eaten to establish a direction when it comes to how much food you consume, how much you exercise, and current weight. This helps compare your patterns over time to help better establish great health goals.

Gratitude Journal
Taking time to write down what you are thankful for each day along with the "Why" as to why you are grateful is very helpful in providing a positive mindset. Over time, you will begin having more thoughts of gratitude throughout the day, raising your great vibes.

Prayer Journal
Prayer journals can be effective for seeing the results of your prayers over time while also allowing you to have a plan or strategy for your prayer. I divide each day's entries into categories that include:

• Acknowledgement of God's Holiness
• Gratitude (Thankfulness)
• My Needs
• Others (Who do I need to pray for)
• The World (Needs of people around the world, disasters, leaders, and so on)
• Forgiveness of Sin
• Protection and Praise

For each category, you can make a few notes about what you'd like to pray that day. After that, you can divide your entries into multiple prayers or one long prayer. It's all up to you!

Wisdom Journal (aka Dream Journal)
The reason I call this a wisdom journal and not simply a dream journal is because I like to journal about every spiritual experience I have. Many times, these experiences work in and out of dream states, crossing over into real life. Sometimes receiving prophetic visions, signs, or experiences in real life act much like dreams and so I find these experiences even more important than a dream to take note of. I have had instances where I received wisdom pertaining to a dream years after I dreamed the dream so I find it very very important to be organized with this information.

These are just some examples of journals you can create, but almost anything you desire to take time out on a regular basis to mediate on, this is a great tool to have in your toolbox. Some journals I use daily, while some I only write in once or twice per week. The great thing about journals is they keep your mind focused in days like this where there are so many distractions. It forces you to put down the phone, turn off the television, and just take a time to focus. I hope this helps! Have a good day, friends!